More students, less money in Texas schools

The public schools in Texas enroll nearly 65,000 more students than last year, according to new state data that bolster arguments that educators are doing more with less money.

State lawmakers, seeking to balance the budget, took the unprecedented step of not funding student enrollment growth, cutting $5.4 billion from public education over this school year and next year.

However, the enrollment increase over the biennium could turn out to be less than expected. Earlier estimates were that 170,000 new students — or 85,000 annually — would enroll in the state’s public schools.

The enrollment changes varied by district, with some gaining students and others losing them. Overall, the number of students in Texas public schools grew by 1 percent, to nearly 5 million students (the state is just 1,421 students shy of 5 million).

The districts in Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty and Waller counties also grew by 1 percent, to 1.1 million students.

Enrollment in the Houston Independent School District, the state’s largest, dropped by less than 1 percent, to 203,066 students. Cypress-Fairbanks ISD, the third-largest district, grew nearly 2 percent, to 107,960 students.

North Forest ISD, under the threat of closure, enrolls 6,938 students, down from 7,512 last school year.